mahurangi matters, fieldays 2016, may 18, 2016

fieldaysfeature 27MahurangimattersMay 18, 2016

fieldays2016 FEATURE

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The southern hemisphere’s biggest agricultural convention, Fieldays, will plough through Mystery Creek from June 15 to 18.The annual agricultural gathering last year attracted 126,063 people, including 456 registered international visitors.Cash withdrawals on site came in at $1 million as 1008 businesses looked to sell goods and services showcased over the four days.The theme of this year’s convention is Collaborate to Accelerate Growth.“This is to encourage and facilitate industry-wide collaboration within the rural and primary sectors in an effort to accelerate innovative industry growth,” NZ National Fieldays Society chief executive Peter Nation says.“Our mission is to advance agriculture.”A new section called innovation acceleration will provide an opportunity for visitors to see how 10 businesses that exhibited in last year’s innovation section have continued to develop their projects.The No.8 Wire art competition will be judged by New Zealand sculptor, Brett Graham, with a first prize of $7000.The art must consist of at least 50 per cent No.8 wire accompanied by other

A competitor in the fencing championship at last years Fieldays.

Collaborative theme for Fieldays

agricultural equipment.Eight men from Australia and New Zealand will battle it out at Mystery Creek to become the Rural Bachelor of the Year. They will compete in a range of tasks, such as fencing and dog training, with the final prize of $5000 worth of vouchers, a quad bike and the Golden Gumboot Trophy.The top fencers in the country

will showcase their skills in the New Zealand National Fencing Championship, which will be judged on skill and speed.The tractor pull will be held in front of a grandstand by the Waikato River.Tickets are $20 per day for adults and $5 for children.Free buses will be provided from Hamilton.

Farming workshopsBeef and Lamb NZ have a number of events in the region coming up. A land and environment planning workshop will be held at 165 Staniforth Road in Mangawhai on Wednesday June 1 from 10am to 3pm. Farmers will learn how to use B+LNZ’s Land and Environment Planning Toolkit, which will enable them to calculate the impact of farming operations on the surrounding environment and implement strategies to mitigate any environmental risk. A field day will be held at Oneriri Station, Oneriri Road, in Kaiwaka on Thursday May 26 from 10.30am to 4pm. Email Rachel Jukes at [email protected] for more info.

Ticket giveawayMahurangi Matters has a double pass to give away to the NZ National Agricultural

Fieldays on June 15 to 18 and a $25 voucher for Farm and Lifestyle Centre Warkworth. Write your name and number on the back of an envelope, post to Fieldays Competition, Mahurangi Matters PO Box 701 Warkworth or email [email protected] with the subject line: Fieldays Comp. Competition closes May 25.

fieldaysfeature28 Mahurangimatters May 18, 2016

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Mahurangi inventor Malcolm Webster is heading to Fieldays with a new contraption to convert a chainsaw into a nail gun for fencing, after being accepted into the Innovations Centre.The device uses the chainsaw motor to power an air compressor, which produces enough power to drive in the fencepost staples which attach the fencing wire to the post.“The current compressors are too big and bulky,” Malcolm says. “They can’t be carried and they have to be carted on a quad bike, which usually requires two people. You can use a hammer, but it’s a lot slower than using an air compressor and there are issues with the repetitive stress of the action.”Malcolm’s invention weighs 17 kilograms and he is working to produce a smaller product. He came up with the concept while installing fencing for his business All Rural Fencing and hopes it will be picked up by a major corporation.He says Fieldays is the best place to get feedback and exposure for an invention. “You get thousands of people through – it’s overwhelming. At the Innovation Centre, you also get help with patent design and business structures from experts. A lot of inventions featured in the past have gone on to become commonplace.”It’s Malcolm’s second time at the Innovation Centre. Five years ago he showcased a gate latch that can be opened and shut from horseback or

Mahurangi inventor Malcolm Webster with the chainsaw-driven nail gun he has developed.

Inventor nailing it at Fieldays

quad bike. The product is now on the market and further development contracts with Gallaghers are in the pipeline, but Malcolm says some tweaks to the product are still needed.“We still haven’t quite cracked it.”He also had a fencing display at Fieldays two years ago, where he gained a contract with a Japanese firm, helping farmers in Hokkaido improve their fencing and farming practices.“I’ve been teaching Japanese farmers how to do New Zealand-type fencing.”


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A number of Mahurangi business are heading to Fieldays with innovative, locally developed products in the hope of getting national and international exposure. Matakana-based businessman Maarten Bubbert founded farm-gate manufacturer and distributor, Stronghold Trading, six years ago and will have a display at Fieldays next month.He says the business draws on the experience he gained running toy stores in his homeland, Holland. He started the toy business when he was 18 and started importing Nintendo computer games and went on to manufacture computer game accessories by outsourcing production to China.He says the relationship he had built with Chinese manufacturers has been the basis for Stronghold, which manufactures gates in China.“I have no background in farming, but I’m always on the look out for things that can be done smarter,” Mr Bubbert says. “I found all the gates in New Zealand were too highly priced, so, using my experience, I started producing the gates using factories in China. We don’t buy the gates from China – we design the gates here, they are all produced to our high standard, but by outsourcing the manufacturing it’s much cheaper.”Mr Bubbert looked to base the company in Warkworth, but found the high price of industrial land made it unfeasible. Stronghold now has a 7000m2 site in Tirau, where he says industrial land is a quarter of the price.This year he has been on the field days circuit around the country, from Gore to Dargaville.“Our turnover at the smaller fieldays has tripled from last year. At the event in Gore we sold as much each day as we did at Mystery Creek last year.”Mahurangi Oysters is heading to Fieldays for the

Mahurangi businesses seek exposure at Fieldays

Mahurangi Oysters owner Andrew Hay and daughter Lauren selling their soup at Fieldays last year.

second year in a row, to showcase its oyster soup in the Kiwi’s Best Kitchen exhibition area.“It was really successful last year,” co-owner Lisa Hay says. Lisa started developing the soup about three years ago. Last year, she received a $2500 grant from Government research and development arm, Callaghan Innovation, and has been producing the soup at the FoodBowl in Auckland – a commercial kitchen to help businesses develop products. The packaged soup is now available at specialty supermarkets in Auckland and Snells Beach Fruit & Vege and Warkworth Butchery.She says the soup is a great way to make the most of oysters which have imperfections.Warkworth resident Sherman Smith will be heading

to Fieldays to put on a display of kitset sheds and buildings with his business Outpost Buildings.Sherman started the business with his brother in Timaru about eight years ago. He moved to Mahurangi in 2012 to make the most of the burgeoning lifestyle market in the area. The company now produces over 80 designs of kitset barns, sheds, garages, chicken coops, and even small houses,The business is based in Silverdale, but will be opening a display site on Matakana Road, opposite Ascension Wine Estate, this month.He says Fieldays is an important event to boost the profile of rural businesses.“We think it’s going to be big for us,” Sherman says. “We’ve had so many requests from customers asking us to go that we think it’s a must.”


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Whangaripo planting dayVolunteers are needed for a native planting day at Whangaripo Hall on Sunday May 29 from 10am to 12pm. Event organiser Bev Davidson says about 700 trees will be planted on a wetland beside the hall. Auckland Council has paid for the plants. If raining, the planting will be held on Sunday June 12.Info: Bev 423 9552 or [email protected]

Students in Wellsford are learning how to grow their own fruit and vegetables in a free course through NorthTec.The Level 2 Sustainable Rural Development Course started in February, while a 19-week Level 3 course will start on August 3.Cassandra Liddington enrolled to learn how to grow organic vegetables for her young family.“I love it,” Cassandra says. “I didn’t know anything when I started. Now I’ve got my own garden at home. I’ve tested the soil and I have started making compost. I’ve also met some really cool people.”She hopes to be self-sufficient for fruit and vegetables, which she estimates will save her about $60 a week.“That will make a big difference for us. I’ve got my three little boys learning as well. They have their own little tools

and each have a section of the garden.“It’s also been a spiritual experience, connecting with the land.”She plans to enrol in the Level 3 course later this year, where students will learn how to start an orchard, and will include an introduction to beekeeping.The courses are run from the Hauora Trust site on School Road, which has a large community vege garden which the students use to learn skills and can take home produce.Course tutor Heidelind Luschberger says students can go on to further study to start a career in horticulture.Next year she plans to introduce a more intensive 36-week course where students will get direct experience in the industry, visiting local orchards and farms.Info: Nikki McMillan 09 470 3625 or [email protected] or call 0800 162 100 for enrolment information

NorthTec students, from left, Russell Koroly-Grey and Cassandra Liddington with tutor Heidelind Luschberger.

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One of New Zealand’s largest commercial duck egg producers, based in Kaipara Flats, has scaled down production.At its height, The Mahurangi Duck farm had about 7000 white Pekin ducks laying, producing thousands of eggs a week, but now owners Peter and Katie Mitchell have decided to keep just 100 ducks for farm-gate sales. The farm was established in 1985 and Peter and Katie bought the business in 2001.“When we bought it it was mainly used to process ducks for the meat market,” Katie says. “It was such a mess. Ducks were dying and they hadn’t been fed properly.”They upgraded the farm and decided to focus on selling the eggs seven years ago and stopped duck processing. The eggs have a different consistency from chicken eggs and are in demand from restaurants and specialty

supermarkets, Katie says.“If I was blind folded, the only thing that would give it away would be the consistency – they are a lot firmer. For baking they are superior. They have a higher fat content which makes them better for holding air, so they are great for making a light sponge.”While demand for duck eggs has remained steady, they have failed to break into the mainstream market.“It’s a cultural thing,” Katie says. “People have said they were told not to eat duck eggs when they were growing up.”The couple say they are ready for a lifestyle change now their kids have left home. As well as selling eggs locally, they are also selling duck manure for gardens.“There’s nothing quite like it. We’ve had it analysed and it’s a fantastic medium to grow anything in. There’s no smell and it’s not hot like chicken poop. It’s a lot gentler on land and it grows amazing vegetables.”

Mahurangi farm off the layKatie Mitchell in the barn with one of the remaining Pekin ducks.

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CountryLivingJulie Cotton

Have you ever felt like a square peg in a round hole? I did the other day when I was sitting at the end of the driveway waiting for the school bus and a lost rental truck pulled over and asked if I was number 112 Burma Road as he needed to drop off a wheelie bin. Now that was not my street number, however, I can assure you both panic and laughter engulfed my body when I realised at that moment that Auckland Council weren’t joking and they were actually going to give farmers like us wheelie bins!In my feeble country bumpkin mind I had to quickly rationalise this concept. What if a plague had gone through and the decision-makers had gone mad? Now, I am only joking of course, but for the sake of my own sanity, and that of many others, I will use my farm as an example to explain my frustration. I have approximately 1.2 kilometres of poorly maintained driveway to get to the road, thus dragging it down my driveway is not an option as the wheels will fall off. Lifting it on the back of a ute and taking it down full is also not an option unless you are the world’s strongest man. Hooking up with the neighbours and “bin pooling” won’t work as they live miles down the road (how far are we expected to drive with our recycling anyway?).The only option for folks like me is to leave it as a permanent fixture on the roadside. Good God, what a lovely look that will be! Wheelie bins dotted all over the countryside. Perhaps the Council could build us “landscape sensitive” wheelie bin corrals?So I did some ringing around Council to see if I could find some better solutions to our unique wheelie bin problems and so it seems the only common justification for the issue at hand was “streamlining, cost saving and equality”. Now last time I looked our Council was telling us all to embrace our “diversity” – next minute we hear them telling us all we need to be equal! So I don’t know? But here’s the thing, if they want to pull the old equality card on our communities they need to accept the fact that equality is not a pick and choose arrangement. It seems to me, that we are only equal if it either saves the Council money or makes them money, and if it costs them money they then tell us all how wonderfully diverse we are! So my message to the Council would be, “If you want us to be equal, then you need to stump up with a few basics like – decent roads, a public pool for our children to learn to swim, sewage plants that aren’t at capacity, sympathetic zoning and regulation that will enable employment for our people, even footpaths and the occasional street light!”So I guess us minorities will just have to embrace our wheelie bins, but I will look forward to Northern Rodney’s name “up in lights” and our pamphlets pinned to every tourist board in the country with the header “Come visit Northern Rodney” the place with pristine beaches, breath-taking landscapes, horrific roads and PLASTIC WHEELIE BINS!

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Council hosts info sessions for rural recyclersAuckland Council’s waste solutions team will be on hand to answer questions and work through issues people may have about the new recycling service at two drop-in sessions in Wellsford and Snells Beach. Council waste planning manager Parul Sood says, following the distribution of the new 240L recycling bins, residents in rural areas have given feedback on bin size, and difficulties with long driveways. Residents can call in to the drop-in session at any time on: Monday May 23, 10am-12pm at Wellsford Community Centre and Wednesday May 25, 10am -12pm at Mahurangi East Community Centre, Snells Beach.

mahurangi matters, fieldays 2016, may 18, 2016

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